Imaginary Friends
by x.xOracles.Shadowx.x
Summary: Hobbit children usually outgrow their imaginary friends as they get older. To no one's surprise, Frodo Baggins was the exception to this rule. - Or, that one where Thorin Oakenshield comes back from the dead to protect Frodo and sticks around for the Quest to destroy the Ring. Bagginshield, Dwarves, and kid!Frodo. Enjoy!


**AN: **

**Hi and hello, everyone! Been a while, hm? **

**So, I found this thing of absolute and utter beauty, **

post/93315762683/i-wanted-to-draw-something-happy-but-i-drew-a** (take the spaces out)**

**And I couldn't _not_ write something about mini Frodo. I needed more of little! Frodo in my life, so this was it. So, go check out that beautiful artwork! **

**Somehow, that wound up with Hobbit children having imaginary friends and Frodo coming home from visiting Cousin Bilbo one day with a new one of his very own, named Oak. **

**Yes, the name is a cop out, but in this story, Frodo is 3 and a quarter, okay? I don't remember being that age, but I'm guessing he wouldn't be very adept at saying, 'Yes, mother, my imaginary friend's name is Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thrain, son of Thror, King Under The Mountain, and may he stay for dinner tonight?' **

**I'm just saying. Movie! Thorin probably spent a lot of time around his own nephews at that age, he'd know that calling himself Oak would be easier for everyone. Deal. **

**Couple of notes on context: **

**Note 1) _When Hobbits reach a certain age, they forget their imaginary friends. This is partly due to pressure from others/ adults to "grow up" and become the stuffy little guys who bore post-adventure Bilbo so much. It sucks, but what can you do. _**

_**Frodo, obviously, is the exception to this rule. **_

_**Belladonna, Bilbo's mother, is another, because she was having none of their nonsense. - she was a Took, and she would adventure with her imaginary companion as long as they damn well pleased. **_

_**Bilbo, pre-adventure, was more of a Baggins than a Took, AS WE ALL KNOW, so he followed the trend and grew up. After, he loosened up a little bit (heartache will do that to a guy, I guess). **_

**Note 2) _As to the "seeing Thorin" thing, it's kind of a case by case basis._ _**General rule of thumb is that, the closer or more important someone is to Frodo, the more likely they are to see Thorin's shadow tagging along behind him.**_**

**_Thorin is still dead - his spirit came back. He denies it, but he's kind of like a wraith, which is why Frodo can see him when he wears the Ring. It's also why Elves can see him - You just know that if Elrond couldn't, he would take stupid amounts of joy in tormenting him, but Elrond is wise to your tricks, Thorin. _**

_**Gandalf can see him because he's Gandalf. **__**Boromir and Gollum can see him because of the pull of the Ring. Thorin is still technically a part of the other world, hence why he makes Boromir and Gollum so uncomfortable. The Ring is already pulling on them, so they are more vulnerable and thus why Thorin's presence creeps them out so much. **_

_**Thorin chooses to let Bilbo and Sam see him; a) _**because there should never be a world where Bilbo Baggins can't see Thorin Oakenshield, and b) because Sam is so close to Frodo. **_**__**Aragorn can see him because of the blood of Numenor (See notes on Elrond). **__**Gimli can see him because he's a member of the Line of Durin, so Thorin chooses to let him see him, and because Dwarves are stupidly resistant to the pull of the Ring. **_

**Note 3) _This is a blend of movie and book, but it's heavily weighted towards the movie, hence the inclusion of Arwen and Tauriel, as well as some other details. _**

**_I was a little iffy on including Tauriel, but I figured that Bilbo wouldn't hesitate to tease Thorin, and what better way to do that than by saying, 'Oh, by the way, I was going to check in on your nephew's girlfriend. You know, the one who is guarding your most hated enemy? Yes, Thranduil did say I could come visit whenever I please.' and then just sitting back and watching as the vein in Thorin's forehead throbbed. __  
_**

**Note 4) _I know that the Undying Lands probably doesn't work the way I wrote it. Don't care. The third movie will hurt enough - let me shoehorn in some happiness. _**

**Note 5) _This is a family story, but don't think there isn't a fair amount of Bagginshield and angst. __  
_**

**Note 6) _This is the big one_: DISCLAIMER: I OWN EXACTLY NOTHING. IF YOU RECOGNIZE IT, I DON'T OWN IT. I'M JUST BRUSHING THE DUST OFF OF MY CREATIVE WRITING; I AM NOT MAKING ANYTHING OFF OF ANYTHING YOU SEE HERE. ****K? K.**

**A lot of notes there... I think I got everything. **

**Enjoy, guys!**

Hobbits aren't particularly prone to imaginary friends once they get past a certain age.

When they're young, of course – every child has his or her own imaginary friend to go adventuring with in dark cupboards when rain or snow keep them inside. They could be rabbits or squirrels, even different types of birds – Belladonna Took was famous amongst her friends for having an imaginary bear who would keep her company when she went on her rambles.

It's never talked about, except in hushed whispers by children who gather under the Party Tree, but at a certain age, these imaginary friends simply vanish. Those who once had them never mention them again, not even when their children make friends of their own and begin to ask whether or not their friend can join the family for dinner. (The answer is almost universally yes.)

For the children of the Shire, it's an unspoken but unavoidable fact: once a certain age has been reached, imaginary friends are best left at home and boys or girls of one's own age replaces them, followed not long after by a husband or wife and children of their own.

This is generally regarded as perfectly acceptable – to all those over said certain age, of course. To the children it's quite horrifying, and more than one child has been heard fervently promising to never forget their friend, not ever. – and is typically met with accepting nods from other adults who had walked the same path.

Bilbo Baggins himself, much like his mother, had had his own imaginary friend – a baby eagle, who would sit perched on his shoulder and protect him from all sorts of horrible beasties while out adventuring with his cousins. No one ever asked why he'd laugh about it years later because, well. Mad Baggins laughed about a lot of things which weren't really very funny, or so the Sackville-Bagginses would have you believe.

It came to the surprise of exactly no one when, at the age of 3 and a quarter, he will have you know, little Frodo Baggins came home from a visit to Cousin Bilbo in Hobbiton and spent the next two days loudly telling anyone who would listen about the adventures he and his new friend, Oak, got up to.

This was met with a smile and a shake of the head. As Bilbo would declare in an oddly pinched voice, Frodo was a Baggins, not some blockheaded Bracegirdle from Hardbottle. If he could find a way to befriend an oak tree, he would do so, and they'd have the grandest adventures the world would ever see.

Drogo and Primula, of course, simply agreed and shook their heads. It was their boy listening to that Wizard again, they guessed. He'd been telling him stories about talking trees during Bilbo's last birthday party at Bag End; this was just the beginning of a phase.

Bilbo wasn't so sure, and Frodo didn't care either way. He and Oak got up to all sorts of adventures – Oak would tell him stories of an underground kingdom with walls veined with gold; about the mischief children can get up to and the grey hairs they can cause their long-suffering uncle; about how camping under the stars with your best friend and your siblings could become one of the memories you cherish most in your long life; and about how nothing – not jewels or gold or all the riches on or below the earth – was more important than the safety of those he loved, and you'd best not forget it, young Master Baggins.

When Drogo, Primula and the rest of Buckland heard these stories, they reacted well enough. Bucklanders had a taste for adventuring – not as much as the Tooks, but enough to cause their parents some sleepless nights. This was just the Bucklander blood coming into play, they said. He'll grow out of it.

When word got through to Hobbiton though, _well_. You should have heard the uproar the SBs caused – they went right up to Bilbo and accused him of meddling, of attempting to ruin any chance the poor lad had of having a normal life by telling him _stories _and telling him to go on _adventures. _When word of this reprimand made it back to Buckland, Primula Baggins, nee Brandybuck and having been quite the adventurer herself in her youth, was having exactly none of that.

She told the lot of them, and Lobelia Bracegirdle, who fancied herself a Sackville-Baggins even though she and Otho hadn't married yet, to keep her noses out of the business of their betters, and that her cousin Bilbo had been the best uncle her boy could have asked for. He'd said nothing of _adventures _or _stories_; he'd brought the lad toys and books and spent time with him, wandering with them and listening to his adventures with Oak.

Which, she said sternly, was more than certain _other_ relations of her Frodo could say, having never spent more than an hour with the boy outside of his birthdays, where they walked away the richer with their gifts.

Sufficiently silenced and Frodo none-the-wiser, life went on for the residents of the Shire. Year after year, imaginary friends came and went, feet being awkwardly shuffled in silence when someone was asked where their friend was that day.

Primula and Drogo died in the Brandywine one spring evening, and Frodo was sent to live with his mother's kin. He became unbearably sad and Oak seemed to be the only thing to make him smile.

In Brandy Hall, things changed. He wasn't a child anymore, they told him. It was time he grew up and left his imaginary friends behind him, what with the death of his parents – and what a crock of lies the rumours their deaths caused were. When he was informed of these rumours by a very sour faced Hamfast Gamgee, Bilbo was sorely tempted to disinherit the lot of them, and in a few cases he did.

He tried to shield Frodo from it as best he could, but the Brandybucks wouldn't tolerate Frodo being out of their sight. He'd be better off, they told Bilbo when he came to visit, if Bilbo just left him be. He'd get over it in his own time, and he'd find truer friends than some figment of his imagination in his cousins.

Bilbo vehemently disagreed, and suddenly found himself unable to return to Hobbiton due to a sudden, dreadful summer cold. He stayed at the Hall for two weeks, spending time with Frodo and Oak, until he was told quite rudely that it was time he left. Frodo sobbed for two weeks straight, and more than once he said that Oak was furious with the lot of them for upsetting his cousin Bilbo so much. He was soundly shushed and sent to his room without supper.

The next time Bilbo came to visit at Brandy Hall, the damage had been done. Oak, who'd never left Frodo's side when he was being bullied by his cousins or when he had a new book to read, was suddenly absent, and with the large population at Brandy Hall, there was no one who really noticed when Frodo went quiet. When Bilbo asked, Frodo just shook his head in silence and put his nose back into his book.

When Bilbo stormed into the Master of Buckland's office that very same day, it was widely agreed that he looked fit to skewer someone.

After weeks of intense bargaining, Bilbo found Frodo hiding in the woods around Brandy Hall one evening after supper and asked how he'd feel about coming to live at Bag End.

"I've spoken with your aunt about this already, my lad, but I want to know what you think. I don't want to replace your parents, but I do wonder if you wouldn't be happier in Hobbiton. There are plenty of children your age nearby; you'd have no trouble making friends, and goodness knows I have enough space in that old smial. I think it could be good for you, for both of us, really," Bilbo explained patiently. "What do you think?"

Frodo was silent for a long moment. Bilbo almost missed it when a quiet voice asked, "Can Oak come back to visit?"

"Why, of course. Any friend of yours is welcome in Bag End."

Frodo nodded soundly, as if that was the deciding factor. "He was always happy when we went to visit you. I don't think he liked it here very much; no one ever told us stories or wanted to listen to his. And they always…"

"They always what, lad?"

"They always told me that I was too old to be friends with him now. Since Mummy and Dad…"

Bilbo's eyes were filled with tears, but he tried to smile. "Oak is welcome to visit whenever he likes. I'll leave the door open for him; he won't even have to ring the bell. He can just walk right in."

For the first time since Oak vanished, Frodo smiled brightly. The next morning, the adoption papers were signed, making Frodo Bilbo's heir, and the two were on their way to Hobbiton, Frodo's belongings and heirlooms from his mother packed away in Gandalf's cart. The old Wizard gave the Hobbits of Brandy Hall very stern looks as Bilbo got Frodo settled on the cart for the ride to Hobbiton, almost daring them to say something, and he listened intently to Frodo's tales of Oak the whole way back.

Frodo jumped to his feet between Bilbo and Gandalf when they arrived at Bag End, excitement all over his face. Gandalf asked what on Earth was the matter and Frodo said that Oak was waiting on the bench by Uncle Bilbo's living room window.

Bilbo looked like he'd been clocked in the head, but Frodo scrambled down from the cart and immediately set to telling Oak about the journey from Buckland, asking if he'd been waiting at Uncle Bilbo's the whole time. While Bilbo, Gandalf and Hamfast Gamgee went to work setting up Frodo's new room, Frodo introduced Hamfast's son, Samwise, to Oak, telling Sam all about their adventures.

The two fell asleep on that bench after supper and hours of playing, and Bilbo, having obtained the permission of Samwise's parents for the boy to stay overnight, roused them just long enough to get them ready for bed and tucked in.

When Frodo woke up the next morning, he crept to the front door and found it unlocked – Just like Uncle Bilbo had promised. He found Oak asleep in the chair next to the living room fireplace, and when Uncle Bilbo woke up, the two made breakfast for themselves, Gandalf, Sam and Oak.

Frodo didn't understand why Uncle Bilbo kept looking at the chair Oak sat in with a sad look, but he and Sam made it their mission that day to cheer him up. Oak called it a quest, and once he explained what it meant, Sam thought that that was the best word he'd ever heard. When he and Oak came back home for afternoon tea, after dropping Sam off at home, Oak stood still on the front lawn and said that he could hear someone crying inside. They followed the voices to the side of the house, near the kitchen.

Standing on his tip-toes, Frodo peered in the kitchen window. Gandalf and Uncle Bilbo were sat at the kitchen table, tea cups sitting before them, and Uncle Bilbo was in tears.

"He doesn't know, Gandalf. I've never said a word about Thorin to the lad, Prim always said that the story was too graphic for such a young child. But… Oak? That can't be a coincidence," Uncle Bilbo said, his voice rough.

"As it happens, I agree. I never believed you befriending an eagle, or your mother being protected by a giant bear at age four and two thirds was a coincidence either," Gandalf told him gently. Frodo looked up at Oak, who was watching intently over his shoulder. Gandalf patted Uncle Bilbo's hand. "Is it such a stretch to believe that Thorin is protecting the boy, Bilbo? After everything you've seen and done?"

Uncle Bilbo snorted. "Is it such a stretch to believe that the Dwarven king whom I betrayed, and then sat by and watched as he died, has come back from the dead as my nephew's imaginary friend? Yes, Gandalf, yes it is. Even after the life I have lived, I can only suspend my disbelief so far, even when it comes to Thorin Oakenshield."

His voice caught on the name, and he looked at Gandalf stubbornly. Frodo looked up at Oak and whispered, "Is that your name? Thor'n Oak'nshield?" Oak just nodded as he listened.

Gandalf looked back at Uncle Bilbo with a firm expression. "You may not want to hear this, Bilbo, but I have lived a life a great deal more exciting than yours, and I have seen far stranger things than an old friend coming back from the dead, regardless of the form he chooses. You've loved Frodo since the day he was born – he's closer to a son to you than many blood relations I've seen. Is it so strange to think that Thorin, who died as your friend, if nothing else, would want to protect someone you love as much as you do that child? The way you tried to protect Fili and Kili at Erebor?"

"Tried being the operative word," Uncle Bilbo said darkly. "I failed them, Gandalf. Thorin doesn't owe me anything, he never did."

"Clearly, he disagrees."

"He always did, the miserable sod," Uncle Bilbo said with a sad smile. Frodo saw that same smile reflected on Oak's face as they listened. "What should I do, Gandalf? If it really is Thorin…"

"He is clearly here for a good reason, Bilbo. Trust him now, as you once did. I believe Frodo could do a good deal worse than having a Dwarven king for an imaginary friend, even if he doesn't know it yet." Gandalf looked directly at Frodo as he spoke, over Uncle Bilbo's shoulder, and the boy kneeled down hurriedly.

Frodo and Oak crept away from the window and Oak suggested they wait a moment before entering Bag End.

"Were you really a friend of Uncle's? From when he went adventuring?" Frodo asked.

"I was," Oak answered. "Your Uncle has done remarkable things, little one. He saved me, more than once. He saved me from myself."

"Uncle Bilbo is pretty great, isn't he?" Frodo asked with a grin, and Oak smiled.

"Yes, mizimith. He truly is. Come, let's go in."

They walked in with Frodo talking loudly about a rabbit that had scared Sam while they were walking. Uncle Bilbo made them both sit down and tell him and Gandalf the story in full while he finished preparing their afternoon tea. For all his life, Gandalf never said why he didn't tell Uncle that Frodo had been eavesdropping, and Frodo had never asked.

As the years slipped by, the imaginary friends of the Shire came and went, being replaced with new ones when their imaginers grew up. As became the norm, Frodo was the exception to that rule.

Oak never went away; he lived permanently in Bag End and Frodo didn't mention him to anyone but Sam, who admitted one day when they were in their thirties that he could always see _something_ by Frodo's shoulders whenever he talked about Oak. It wasn't clear or anything you'd see if you weren't looking for it, but Sam swore that it was there. Frodo never asked Uncle Bilbo to confirm it, but he always guessed that Gandalf, who came by to visit every so often, could see the same thing.

There had to be a reason, after all, why the Wizard never sat in the chair by the fireplace when Oak was sitting there. Frodo was just glad he wasn't losing his mind.

Things progressed as normal until Uncle Bilbo's 111th birthday. Both Frodo and Oak had been worrying anxiously over Uncle Bilbo – Frodo because he was afraid his Uncle would slip away without a word and leave him alone, and Oak because of a reason he seemed too afraid to share with Frodo, which made the young Hobbit even more anxious. Oak would always glare derisively at anyone who called Uncle Bilbo _well-preserved_ in his hearing, and he'd never tell Frodo why.

The night of the party, Frodo was preparing some last minute gifts in the living room while Oak hovered over Bilbo in the study.

Bag End was quiet until, as clear as day, Frodo could hear Oak say, "Bilbo, why?"

His uncle's gasp of shock seemed to echo and, very quietly, he replied, "… Thorin? Thorin, is that-?"

"You've always known I was here, Master Burglar. Why are you doing this now? Send the blasted thing to Elrond and be done with it. Let the Elves clean up their own messes for a change."

Bilbo's hysterical laughter sent chills down Frodo's spine and they pooled in his stomach, making him nauseous. "I can't… Thorin, I can't let it go. I'm not strong enough."

"Bilbo, that thing is kill-!"

"You think I DON'T KNOW THAT?! YOU THINK I CAN'T SEE- This thing has weighed on me since you died, but I can't… Thorin, I can't let it go." He heard his uncle take a shaky breath. "This is the only way; it'll be easier this way. I can't carry on like this, Thorin."

Oak was quiet for a very long moment, and then he replied, "No, no you can't. I only I wish I could help."

"You've taken care of Frodo, you've always been helping, Thorin. … Can I ask-?"

"Anything."

"Why? They buried you in the heart of the Mountain, along with the boys, and I thought… I thought you'd be at peace."

"How can I be at peace when a member of my Company is in such peril? How can I rest knowing you… That _this thing_ is draining you so? I returned because I was needed, by Frodo and you. That is all."

"And after I've gone? Will you stay with him, keep an eye on him? I'm asking so much of the lad, but I can't stay here, not while it's here, and I'm not strong enough to leave it on my own."

"You are plenty strong, Bilbo, but yes, I will stay with him. The day I let that thing harm him is the day I am no longer worthy to sit in the halls of my fathers."

"You've never believed me, but you've always been worthy of that. Thank you, Thorin. Thank you for protecting him when I could not."

"He knows who I am, that I was real."

"Of course he does, the boy is as bright as they come. I knew… As soon as he called you Oak, when he was still just a child, I knew. I couldn't believe it."

"Gandalf told you."

"Ah, so you were listening then. Frodo doesn't know, but I could hear him talking to you. That's why you didn't answer, isn't it?"

"I didn't want to unnerve you. That was silly of me."

"Exceedingly so," Bilbo said, the smile obvious in his voice. Frodo crept quietly to the hallway. "Are they… Fili and Kili, are they…?"

"They are at peace. I was the only one who felt the pull to return. They are waiting."

"For what?"

"For the day I return. For the day you come to join us."

"I should have died years ago, I can feel it but…"

"That thing is keeping you alive, but at what cost, Bilbo?"

"Will they be there? When I finally do… When I let it go, will you be there?"

"They are still waiting and I'll return when Frodo no longer needs me, but yes, I will be there. They were so disappointed when I was the only one to be brought back; they were excited to see you again."

Bilbo laughed, and it sounded choked up. "I'm sorry to have kept them waiting for so long."

"We dwarves are accustomed to spending a great deal of time waiting. It will be good for them; they never learned that lesson in patience in life."

"I can't imagine why," Bilbo said dryly.

It was silent for a moment before Oak asked, "Where will you go? When you leave."

"First to Rivendell, then to the east. I want to see Mirkwood and Lake Town again, visit with Beorn, see how Bard's family is holding up and how Kili's elf lady friend has been." Frodo could hear Oak's growl from the hallway and barely held in a laugh. Bilbo laughed outright. "Oh, hush. If you can be a Hobbit child's imaginary friend, why can't your nephew fall in love with an elf?"

"I can think of more reasons than you have paper on which to list them."

"Is that a challenge? I do a lot of writing."

Oak laughed. "Yes, you certainly do. … Will you return to the Mountain?"

"I want to. I've spent years wishing I'd stayed after… After we buried you and the boys. I wanted so much to, to say my goodbyes when there wasn't a crowd of dirty, bloody, battle weary dwarves surrounding me but… I could barely see past my own pain, Thorin. I wasn't ready to go back."

"And now?"

"I believe, now, I am quite ready. As I'll ever be, that is. I want to see you one last time, before these old bones finally give out on me."

"I- Bilbo…"

"Promise me you'll look after him. Promise me that, whatever happens… Promise me you won't let it take him. Promise me you'll fight for him."

"Even if I must walk into Mordor myself, I swear to you it will not have him. You spent our quest protecting me, my friend. I will not let you down."

"You never have."

The door to Bag End was thrown open and a blustering Samwise Gamgee was led in by a very amused Gandalf. The Wizard spotted Frodo eavesdropping – again – and simply raised a bushy eyebrow before saying to Sam,

"Very good, Sam. Just leave the packages in the living room, and be sure not to peek – I shall know if you do. Ah, Frodo, my lad. Where is that Uncle of yours hiding? I've just had Lobelia Sackville-Baggins attempt to glare a hole into my head and I'm feeling very put out by the whole affair."

Frodo had just stood up and stepped fully into the hallway when Bilbo and Oak walked out of the study. Bilbo, eyes red from the tears Frodo could still see – and didn't that just make his gut twist painfully? – smiled tightly and said,

"Gandalf, if you expect an apology and a bottle of red wine every time Lobelia glares at you, you'll drink me out of house and home within a week."

"As I'm in charge of tonight's entertainment, I was thinking more along the lines of tea, if you would be so kind. It wouldn't do for me to light one of your relations on fire, would it, dear Bilbo?"

"Depends which relation," Bilbo muttered, sharing a grin with Frodo before walking to the kitchen and beckoning Gandalf to follow him.

Oak joined Frodo in the living room with Sam, who jumped and looked straight at Oak before exclaiming, "Save us! You really do look like a Dwarf king, Mister Oak, sir."

Frodo looked quickly between the two and said, "Sam… Sam, can you see-?"

"As clear as daylight, Mister Frodo!"

Frodo looked at Oak in shock, and Oak simply smirked and bowed. Sam sat down in a hurry and looked like he was about to faint.

By the next morning, after Bilbo and Gandalf had gone, Frodo felt worry over the ring hidden in his glory box begin to gnaw at him. Sam could no longer see Oak clearly, just as a vague shadow at Frodo's shoulder.

The night Gandalf returned, months later, was the night Frodo learned that the ring Bilbo had left him was, in fact, the One Ring of the Dark Lord Sauron. Frodo knew then that the ring was what Oak had been so worried about for so long, and that Oak agreed sternly that the Elves would be best suited to deal with getting rid of it.

He'd already seen one Baggins put himself face to face with evil for the sake of others, and he would not hear a single word about Frodo doing the same. The elves could deal with their own messes for once and leave the other races out of it.

Frodo knew, from years of living with him, that it would do no good trying to talk him down, so he began to pack for his very own quest.

The Black Riders were an entirely different story, and Frodo had never seen Oak as frustrated as he was when he reached for a sword at his back that was no longer there before running behind Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin onto the Buckleberry Ferry.

That was the night Frodo learned that Merry and Pippin had always had a vague knowledge of Oak's presence, and that they'd seen the same shadow Sam had talked about. They knew that Gandalf had seen it and that he hadn't deemed it to be threatening, so they hadn't worried about it. They'd just accepted that Frodo's imaginary friend was less imaginary than most in the Shire.

The less said about Oak's reaction to Tom Bombadil and the Barrow Wights, the better. Frodo had never even _heard_ of some of those curse words, and he'd grown up with Bucklanders and Tooks.

When they arrived at the Prancing Pony, Frodo tried not to laugh as Oak glared at Butterbur, muttering something about his own stay in Bree. While Sam fretted about Strider and his apparent interest in Frodo, Oak remained close by and Pippin went about making friends with the locals.

Both Frodo and Oak tried to stop Pippin from indicating him as a Baggins, and Oak had been yelling about how Frodo's song routine was something his idiotic nephews would have done, but when the Ring slipped onto Frodo's finger after he fell, Frodo saw the world through a veil of shadow and what he saw of Oak scared him the most.

He was lit up by pale flame, and Frodo could see wounds covering him. Black lines could be seen on his skin through the flames and his eyes were black pits in a twisted face as he rushed towards Frodo. The sight scared him so badly, as it was so different to the Oak he'd known all of his life, that he scuttled back to hide next to Strider with Oak following him intently, his voice reduced to an echo-ing rasp in the dark.

Frodo inhaled harshly and ripped the Ring from his finger. Oak kneeled before him, his familiar face twisted in concern as he watched Frodo, and before Frodo could get a word out, Strider had grabbed him and hauled him up the stairs with Oak following close behind. As it happened, Oak agreed almost entirely with Aragorn, son of Arathorn and a friend of Gandalf – although that last part earned him a critical glance. – that Frodo needed to use more caution, that that was certainly _not _a trinket he was carrying, and that the things hunting him were a kind of horror they were not prepared to fight.

'What I wouldn't _give_ to have Balin and Dwalin with us right now.' Oak muttered to Frodo as the others tried to sleep that night. Frodo had heard those names – Oak had told him stories of his childhood friend and his older brother, Thorin's mentor and Thror's advisor. From what Bilbo had told him of Balin, Frodo agreed wholeheartedly.

When they reached the Midge Marshes – which Oak had grumbled about being one of the very few places he'd traveled to that had been accurately named, more's the pity – Aragorn had taken Frodo aside as the others prepared some quickly eaten dinner.

"Gandalf told me you had a shadow following you, but I did not believe him," Aragorn said quietly and Frodo looked at him in shock.

"You can see him? How?" Frodo asked.

"The eyes of Numenor can see much that once was, and I spent much of my childhood reading about the legacy of Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror. There are many books about his people in the libraries at Rivendell," Aragorn explained. He looked directly at Oak and said, "I did not look to find the wraith of a king protecting a Hobbit."

"I am no wraith," Oak replied lowly. "My thoughts are my own, as is my purpose."

"From what Gandalf and Lord Elrond told me of you in life, of that I have no doubt." Oak scowled at the mention of Elrond but said nothing else. Aragorn smiled, and it seemed a great weight had been lifted from him. "I confess, I am relieved to find I am not alone in protecting four such… adventurous Hobbits."

Frodo never did tell Sam, Merry or Pippin just why he'd spent the rest of the night chuckling to himself.

As with Bombadil, the less said about Amon Sul, the better. The last thing Frodo really remembered before the world around him went dark was the stab of ice cold pain in his shoulder and Oak's yells of rage. The next few days were hazy at best – before Arwen's arrival, he could vaguely remember a whispered reassurance that he could guess had been Oak speaking, but it had been muddled by the screeching of the Ring Wraiths.

When Frodo woke in Rivendell, he found Oak sitting at the foot of his bed, neck deep in an angry discussion with Gandalf. The tension in the room was palpable when Lord Elrond entered, and it took everything in Frodo's drained reserves to not just snap at Oak and Elrond when they fell into a silent glaring contest. Gandalf, thankfully, intervened.

Seeing Uncle Bilbo again, aged and tired, had been hard. Oak's reaction – his face losing all colour and staggering as though he'd been struck – had been worse. The only part of their time in Rivendell that had been more painful than seeing Oak treating Uncle as though age had turned him to glass was the night Uncle gave him his mithril shirt and Sting.

"You kept them," Oak said quietly while Frodo examined them.

"Of course. I'm surprised you hadn't seen them before now, I've never hidden them," Bilbo commented.

"I wanted to give you space, in case you'd… In case there was someone else." Frodo very determinedly did not look back at them, and suddenly wished very hard to put the Ring on and vanish so they could have this discussion in privacy.

Knowing that that was a bad idea, and that Oak would give him a very stern lecture, Ring or not, Frodo thought better of it and pretended he could make himself invisible through sheer force of will.

For his part, Bilbo laughed tiredly. "There was never anyone but you, you old fool. You're stuck with me, I'm afraid, in this life and the next. Haven't I made that perfectly clear already?"

Oak remained silent, and not long after that, it became clear how strong the grip of the Ring truly was on Bilbo. Frodo never brought up that incident again, even after their Fellowship left Rivendell.

Having Oak around the Company was an interesting experience. Boromir couldn't see him and would shiver whenever Oak walked near him, glancing over his shoulder ever now and again. Oak confided in Frodo later that there was something in his eyes that he didn't like, something familiar. Aragorn never said either way, but Frodo had the suspicion that he agreed. Gandalf, Merry, Pippin, Sam and Aragorn knew he existed and could see him to varying degrees, and Legolas later confirmed that he could see a dwarf-shaped shadow following in Frodo's wake if the sun hit him the right way.

Gimli's confirmation was fascinating. He'd made eye contact with Thorin several times since the Council but had never approached the topic with Frodo. One night in Hollin, their group was preparing to sleep for the night when Gimli let out a string of guttural sounding words from where he sat by the fire. Oak's head shot up and looked directly at him, and Frodo could swear he caught Bilbo's name, and the name of Gloin, Gimli's father, as the two exchanged words.

By the end, Oak simply nodded and settled next to Frodo, and Gimli laughed, smoking his pipe. "So, you really are as irritable as my Da always said you were," Gimli muttered with a grin.

"And for those of us who do not speak Dwarf?" Legolas asked.

"Then, princeling, it is clearly none of your business," Gimli replied. Oak laughed and Gandalf simply rolled his eyes, muttering about the stubbornness of Dwarves.

The less said about Moria, the better for all parties. Frodo had been stricken silent with horror, and Gimli's cries of anguish were only eclipsed by the jagged, broken sound that escaped Oak in the Chamber of Mazarbul.

If he hadn't been promised to take care of him, Frodo knew Oak would have stayed in Moria to guard Balin's tomb until the ending of the world, Orcs and Durin's Bane be damned. It took everything in him not to tell him to stay.

The events at the Bridge of Khazad-Dum are best left alone.

It shouldn't have surprised Frodo when Oak froze next to him in Lothlorien, under Lady Galadriel's gaze. She never said either way but she could see him, and Oak would only say that what she offered him was something no Elf on Middle Earth could give, Ring of Power or no.

Leaving the Company on the shores of Rauros Falls, after the Ring took Boromir, was the hardest thing Frodo had ever had to do. Oak had suggested bringing Aragorn and Sam, but Frodo knew in his heart that Aragorn's path lay somewhere to the West, and that his part in the tale of the Ring was ended. Aragorn was a king without a crown and where Frodo, Sam and Oak were going, they were in short supply.

As they stood on the hills of Emyn Muil, Sam nudged him carefully. "It'll be alright, Mister Frodo. Strider will look after the others. We'll see them again, in better days."

"I hope you're right, Sam." Oak gave him a concerned look, and Frodo didn't try to fight the silent and yet growing suspicion that he would not see home again.

Gollum, though such a large part of Uncle Bilbo's story, was relatively unknown to Oak when they finally managed to catch him. That is not to say, however, that he was at all fond of the gnarled creature, especially when he learned that he'd attempted to eat Uncle Bilbo.

It was clear right away that Gollum could sense Oak, but he could not see him. He'd tense and hiss whenever he walked close, and Frodo was beginning to suspect that that was an effect of the Ring trying to take, or in this case to reclaim, someone.

Their road from Emyn Muil was not an easy one, past Faramir and through Ithilien to Minas Morgul, but when they'd entered the Black Lands, when Frodo was stung by Shelob and taken into the Tower, he awoke utterly alone. Sam was gone, and Oak had gone missing in the tunnel; in all the mayhem caused by Gollum, Frodo had lost track of him.

Sam was nowhere in sight, and neither was Oak. With the exception of the few weeks in his childhood, Frodo had had Oak with him for his entire life, and yet he'd woken and the Dwarf was gone. He hoped that he was with Sam but when they found each other again, he learned that that was not true. Oak was missing, and they had no time to wait for him or to look, not if they wanted to escape and make a last desperate try to destroy the Ring.

Oak's absence hurt like a wound while they made their way through Mordor to Mount Doom, and it was the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back. Even with Sam's help, when they reached the fires, Frodo faltered. The voice of the Ring was so loud in his ears that he couldn't hear Sam pleading with him, he couldn't think of anything but the Ring. He couldn't remember Oak or Uncle Bilbo or his parents, Aragorn, Gandalf, Merry, Pippin or Lord Elrond. His mind was blank but for thought of the Ring.

Later, the memory would terrify and haunt him. Then, the only thought that could break through the haze of the Ring and the heat of the heart of Mount Doom was the pain he felt when Gollum attacked. The loss of his finger – a sharp, prickling, burning pain that felt as though his hand was on fire – was enough to bring him back even as the Ring screamed in his ear.

Gollum fell into the fire, taking the Ring with him. And Sam – dear Sam – would not let him fall too, even at the end of all things. Together, they escaped the collapsing mountain with no Oak in sight, and there, they waited. For what, they did not know, but as the sky fell down around them, they waited.

Looking back, he should have remembered that a Wizard is never late. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to, and if he arrives on a cart laden with fireworks or on the back of a giant eagle is no never mind to you, young Hobbit.

Frodo, frankly, did not expect to wake in Rivendell. He did not expect to wake, period, but he did. His reunion with his Company, and later Uncle Bilbo, was bitter sweet. No one asked but from the look on Gimli's face, and the worry on Legolas' as he looked at the two of them, they were all wondering why Oak had not come back with them.

Gimli only asked, 'Did he stay in the mountain?' and Frodo had no answer for him. Uncle Bilbo never asked, but the grief in his eyes was clear enough. If he and Gandalf talked about it at all, Frodo was glad he managed to sleep through it.

The wedding of Aragorn and Arwen was the event the people of Gondor needed to celebrate a new age of peace. Frodo only wished Uncle Bilbo and Oak were there to see the crown Gimli helped remake, and the new gates the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain and the Iron Hills helped to create for Minas Tirith.

If he'd had any hope, it was that, when he returned home to Bag End, Oak would be there waiting for him, just as he had all those years before.

When they learned that Orcs and foul men had infested the Shire in their absence, led by Saruman, Frodo knew it was not to be. He kept an eye out while they scoured the Shire and drove them out, but Oak was still gone. Frodo felt, not for the first or last time, like he'd lost a limb instead of just a finger.

The years passed, and four years to the day since Weathertop, Frodo finished Uncle Bilbo's book. _There And Back Again: A Hobbit's Tale_ by Bilbo Baggins and _The Lord of the Rings _by Frodo Baggins would sit in a place of honour in the Shire for as long as Merry, Pippin and Sam's families lived and breathed and kept the Shire green and growing.

But Frodo was not to see it. Sam denied it, and Merry and Pippin never mentioned it, but he could feel the same weariness in him that Bilbo had talked about for so long. Frodo knew his time on Middle Earth had come to an end.

Making Sam his heir was the right decision; his family would keep Bag End and Hobbiton in good order. Saying goodbye to his friends was the latest in a string of difficult tasks he'd had to accomplish, but he knew they understood.

For him, there was no going back. The Witch-King had seen to that personally.

As he got on the boat to the Undying West, he looked back towards his childhood home, the home he'd nearly died for, and hoped with all of his heart that he would get the chance to say goodbye to Oak.

Sam looked around and shook his head, tears still falling from his eyes. Oak – Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror, King Under the Mountain and the best imaginary friend any Hobbit of the Shire had ever had – was no more.

Frodo just took hold of Uncle Bilbo's hand and waited to see if the world beyond the grey rain curtain was as beautiful as Gandalf had said it was.

He could never be sure how many days passed, but as the water slid past and a wide, green country crawled slowly into view, Frodo felt the pain in his heart lessen. Strength returned to Bilbo, and he again looked like the kindly Uncle who'd come to bring him to a home he'd never known but would love until the day his heart stopped.

When the docks came into view, Lord Elrond and Lady Galadriel were waiting anxiously, and Frodo could see an elf woman so beautiful she could only have been Lady Arwen's mother, Lady Celebrian, standing at the edge of the pier as their boat rocked in the harbour and then went still. Lord Elrond climbed down from the boat and ran to her, and Frodo stood by Lady Galadriel and watched, both smiling, as Lord Elrond held his wife for the first time in over a thousand years.

Uncle Bilbo chuckled warmly beside them, and smiled at them happily. "Well, if that's not a wonderful start to an adventure, my lad, then I don't know what is."

Lady Galadriel smiled at them both, and then said quietly, "Do not think we would let our Ring Bearers go without a warm welcome of their own."

"My lady?", Frodo asked in confusion. Gandalf laughed behind them, looking old and young all at once. He raised a hand that had never shook, even when facing the Witch King, and pointed to the back of the docks where a group waited.

He heard Uncle Bilbo gulp next to him, and Frodo watched as he dashed off of the boat. He all but ran to the group and was engulfed in hugs, vanishing from sight. Frodo stood, dumbstruck. He looked up at Gandalf and Lady Galadriel.

"But, I thought… When he wasn't with us in Mount Doom, I thought he…" Frodo hadn't realized he was crying until his voice was caught and made jagged by his tears.

"Thorin had his own trials to face while in Mordor. I once told you, Frodo, that there were other forces in this world besides the will of good or evil. Love is one of the more powerful, and the love Thorin Oakenshield felt for your uncle, and for you, young Hobbit, made him an interesting target for Sauron when he realized his presence," Gandalf explained.

Galadriel smiled and kissed his forehead. "Sauron called his spirit to Barad-Dur. He wanted to know what the spirit of an exiled Dwarf king who died from greed was doing in his lands. Thorin was, by no means, a gracious house guest, but between he and Aragorn, they distracted him just enough to give you and Sam safe passage to Mount Doom," she told him gently. "You did not think he would leave you by choice?"

"No, but I…" Frodo could not keep the smile from his face, the tears forgotten.

"Frodo, my lad! Let Lady Galadriel and Gandalf say their hellos! Come over here, you've got some of your own to make!", Uncle Bilbo called, his arms around the necks of two dwarves, one with braided blond hair and the other with tied back, brown hair.

Gandalf helped both Frodo and Lady Galadriel down, and Frodo left them with Cirdan on the docks. He hurried through the crowd and came to a stop in front of the group surrounding Uncle Bilbo. He recognized most from both Uncle and Oak's stories – Fili and Kili, Oin, Ori, and Bifur, Dwalin and Balin. Standing at the back was Oak, and Frodo supposed he'd have to get used to calling him Thorin.

Uncle Bilbo removed his arms from around the two princes, who were too busy crying and laughing in turns to mind overmuch, and slid an arm around Frodo. His Uncle smiled brightly, in a way Frodo hadn't seen since he was young, and said,

"I believe it's past time you met Fili and Kili, my lad. You two, try not to traumatize him, hm?"

"We'll do our best," Kili agreed, grinning widely.

"After all this time apart, such vicious lies! We'd never do that to family, Uncle," Fili argued. "Fili."

"And Kili."

"At your service," they said in unison, bowing.

"We've waited a long time to see Uncle again, and even longer to meet you in person, little one," Fili greeted, the two of them being pulled into a hug by Frodo. He'd been surrounded by family his entire life, he thought, and he'd never known that half of it was missing.

"Frodo Baggins, at yours and your family," he replied.

Uncle Bilbo introduced each Dwarf in turn, and when it came to Thorin, the king pulled both Hobbits into a strong hug. Frodo heard him mutter something into Uncle's ear and held tighter, feeling Uncle's nod in agreement and frustrated reply of, 'If you must'. Thorin released Uncle Bilbo and looked Frodo square in the eye, and then kneeled in front of him.

"Frodo, I am sorry. I should have been there in Mount Doom, but I let myself be pulled away-"

Frodo rolled his eyes and threw his arms around the ridiculous Dwarf king who'd been family before Frodo had even known the true meaning of the word.

"You were always there. Even when you weren't with me, you were protecting me," Frodo muttered, being hugged tightly. "What were you thinking, going against Sauron? I don't want to think what it would have done to Uncle if you hadn't…"

"I swore I would protect you, even if it meant marching into Mordor myself. I let your Uncle down once, and it got those I loved killed, Frodo. I would not let it happen again."

"Oh, for goodness sake, not this again," Kili muttered, before he and Fili muscled their way into the hug, tugging Uncle Bilbo in with them.

"How many times must we say it, Uncle? You protected us as best you could. We don't blame you, Uncle Bilbo doesn't blame you – Mother might, but I'm sure she'll grind that particular axe when she gets here, so don't worry about it just yet," Fili informed him firmly. He gestured at Frodo, Bilbo and the rest of their Company. "We'll all be together again, sooner or later. Just take it for the gift that it is and don't question it."

To no one's surprise, that was not the last time such a request was made. Gandalf's assertion of the stubbornness of Dwarves would be used as an exclamation of frustration for Uncle Bilbo for the next few decades – Kili had privately assured Frodo that Uncle Thorin could start an argument in an empty room, which was the exact opposite of shocking – until the guilt that had plagued Thorin began to abate.

Lady Dis, when she arrived, did indeed grind down that particular axe, and it took another few years for the dust to settle from that spectacular argument. The only positive thing she said to Thorin those first few years was that he hadn't made his quest a complete waste of time, "although what business an upstanding gentlehobbit like Master Baggins had taking up with a complete dolt like you, dearest brother, is beyond me".

Fili, Kili, Frerin, Balin, Dwalin and Gandalf had to repeatedly assure Frodo that that was just Lady Dis' way of showing her brother that she cared about his happiness. Thorin, though silent and moody in the aftermath of the argument, nodded in agreement.

When Sam arrived, he spent years getting Frodo and Bilbo caught up on the comings and goings of the Shire. Bilbo had laughed himself sick when he heard that the adventures of Mad Baggins had become a fireside classic in Brandy Hall, and Frodo blushed to learn that the story of Frodo Baggins and his not-quite-so-imaginary friend Oak became a favourite bedtime story of the Fairbairn family when Sam's daughter Elanor had her first child, Elfstan.

Imaginary friends came and went in the Shire. When the child grew up and stopped wanting adventure, their imaginary friend faded to a corner of their mind, collecting dust another Hobbit child had need of a friend to chase fairies and look for wood elves with. To Frodo's knowledge, Oak was the only one who stuck around, and he couldn't help but be glad.

After all, to have a lifelong friend with loyalty, honour and a willing heart – You can't ask for more than that.

**AN: Annnnd, scene.**

**My best friend is going to be so annoyed with me when she sees I've included Tauriel. She loves with Aidan Turner's version of Kili. **

**Hope you enjoyed it, folks! Have a good weekend, and for those who are going to see Guardians of the Galaxy, STAY UNTIL AFTER THE CREDITS. I'm going to see it later this week, and I am so excited! **

**Any comments, questions or concerns? Lemme know. **

**Thanks for reading! =)**

**Much love,  
Oracle. (L)**


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